In this class, we will read and write poems with formal structures. Our reading material will be primarily 20th century and contemporary sonnets, villanelles, sestinas, rhyming forms, triolets, palindrome poems, and other forms, including self-imposed ones. We will also explore meter and how to use it effectively in our own work. Formal poetry challenges us to balance sound and sense, requires us to be creative to maximize what we can accomplish within the boundaries of the form, and gives us permission to surprise ourselves in the writing process. Students for this class do not need to be familiar with any formal structures; however, we will be writing in form and meter. This class will also have a workshop component, where we’ll discuss the students’ form poems, written either for class assignments or independently.

About the Instructor: Mirabella holds an MFA from the University of Virginia and an A.B. from Princeton University. She has served as a professor in UVA’s English department and also has experience serving as a tutor for young writers looking to develop their critical reading and writing skills. Her poems have appeared in A Clean Well-Lighted Place and APIARY.

WriterHouse, Inc. is a non-profit organization, exempt from Federal income tax under section 501(c)3 of the Internal Revenue Code, and registered as a charitable organization with the Virginia State Office of Consumer Affairs. A financial statement is available from the State Office of Consumer Affairs in the the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services upon request.